HomeNewsHuge Florida gun show goes ahead THREE DAYS after high school shooting left 17 dead - and children attend for free (7 Pics)

Huge Florida gun show goes ahead THREE DAYS after high school shooting left 17 dead - and children attend for free (7 Pics)

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A huge gun fair with free entry for kids went ahead yesterday – just 47 miles from the school shooting which rocked America days earlier.

Anger erupted as the Florida Gun Show was staged despite last Wednesday’s massacre in which a teenage shooter left 17 students and staff dead.

Anti-gun lobbyists slammed the 150-stand exhibition as “wrong and disrespectful” and one said: “What are we doing? God help America.”

But the organisers were unrepentant, saying the show had been planned far in advance and they intended “no insensitivity” to the victims or their families.

One shooting fan even dismissed those who want a clampdown on guns by saying: “You can kill somebody with a pencil.”

Under-12s were welcomed to the sprawling show held at Miami’s Dade County Fairgrounds by being admitted for nothing.

And each £9 ticket bought by an older person was entered into a prize draw to win a pistol or a military-style rifle like the one Nikolas Cruz used in his rampage in Parkland, less than an hour’s drive up the coast.

In a video on Facebook organisers of the show – said to be the world’s biggest – boasted of “an enormous array of firearms, ammunition and knives”.

Visitors were allowed to bring their own unloaded firearms, though they were reminded of a “two gun maximum”.

But once inside the site customers were able to test guns at a firing range.

They could browse through row upon row of deadly weaponry, examine ammo of different calibres and chat to experts and specialists.

For just £100 they could buy two hours of training that ended with a concealed weapon permit, allowing them to carry a hidden handgun in 34 states.

Bags were on display with zippered pockets where a pistol could be stashed. And anyone aged 18 or over could buy rifles like the AR-15 Cruz, 19, used to kill ex-classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on Valentine’s Day.

The show was greeted with dismay by locals opposed to America’s culture of gun ownership.

Susy Elaine Do Prado, from nearby Fort Lauderdale, said: “Families are still mourning and burying their loved ones while the gun show in Miami is happening as planned. It makes me sick.”

Fellow resident Anthony Matthews said: “Business as usual, I guess it’s their way of mourning the loss of so many young people and teachers.”

And as far away as New York, outraged Moira Tice said: “At 18 in Florida you can buy an assault weapon. Where are we headed with this?”

The two-day exhibition, open from 9am-5pm yesterday and 10am-5pm today, was hosted by a firm billing itself as “the largest gun show promoter in Florida”.

It was expected to attract up to 12,000 gun enthusiasts.

Meanwhile a similar show was also being staged at Fort Walton Beach, 600 miles away at the other end of the state,

The organisers said: “We ask all of our attendees to be aware that they may interact with others who have concern about the timing of this event. Please give all opinions respect and deference, particularly in these very troubled times.”

Last week America was stunned when troubled loner Cruz stormed his former school while wearing a gasmask and carrying smoke grenades.

Moving from room to room he shot teenagers as young as 14 along with three adults before being captured.

Yesterday it emerged brave school librarian Diana Haneski saved 55 lives by sheperding students and adults into a media room.

Incredibly she was inspired by a friend whose quick-thinking actions saved 18 people during the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut in 2012.

Huge Florida gun show goes ahead THREE DAYS after high school shooting left 17 dead - and children attend for free (7 Pics)
Reviewed by Facts
on
February 17, 2018
Rating: 5